Jefferson County has paid $600,000 to settle age- and sex-discrimination cases involving the county’s top executive, who has not faced any disciplinary action over the claims.

The county also has spent $166,918 on outside and in-house counsel to defend the claims against County Administrator Jim Moore. He has been the county’s top executive for four years.

All parties involved in the cases, including the three county commissioners, are barred from commenting under terms of the settlement agreements.

The federal lawsuits brought by former county employees Judy Goebel, 60, and Jerelyn Bower, 56, claimed that Moore fired them in 2007 based on their age and gender, and that he created a hostile work environment.

Moore and county officials denied the charges, saying the women were fired because of budget issues.

Even so, the county settled with Goebel, the former human-services director, in June for $275,000 and with Bower, head of support services, for $325,000 last month.

Risks of going to trial

Martin Katz, interim dean at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and an expert on employment law, said that in similar cases, employers usually conduct a cost-benefit analysis when they are sued.

Nuisance cases are often settled for under $35,000, he said, and it’s usually cheaper to settle cases for $100,000 or less than to litigate them.

“More than $100,000 suggests pretty bad facts or substantial risks” that a trial will end in significant damages, he said.

Katz noted that employers who settle with plaintiffs in discrimination cases often have to worry about future liability issues, especially when the employee alleged to have engaged in misconduct still works there.

A “blood in the water” effect can occur, he said. Seeing an opportunity, more claimants may come forward, and attorneys are often more amenable to taking their cases on a contingency basis.

Additionally, the risks for the employer tend to go up.

“When there is a pattern, that’s when there’s the possibility of an outrage factor with a jury,” Katz said.

Plaintiff on other side

Before her claim against Jefferson County, Goebel, along with the county, was named as a defendant in two other employment discrimination cases. Those employees alleged that Goebel, their immediate supervisor, created a hostile work environment.

One plaintiff claimed that she complained to Moore, Goebel’s supervisor, but that he did not intervene.

The county settled one case for $35,000 in 2007 and another for $125,000 in 2009.

EEOC investigated

Goebel and Bowers alleged that among other things, Moore did nothing when told about instances in which male employees made derogatory remarks about women and when one employee used racial epithets.

Moore, they contended, also made unwelcome comments about the sexual abuse he suffered as a child and discussed a sex video he made.

At one point, upon learning of the age of a female employee who was 55, Moore allegedly said: “Well, she might have a year or two left on her.”

Federal court records show that the county and Moore denied these allegations and said that both women were fired to save more than $200,000 in salaries.

In November, Moore wrote in a letter to employees that Goebel was “terminated for poor judgment and lacking impartiality” and Bower’s position was eliminated to save money.

He also noted that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had found insufficient evidence to sustain both employees’ claims against the county.

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